The reason for the growth, according to McGill University psychiatrist Dr. Joel Paris, is that the diagnostic criteria for ADD in adults is too broad and that anyone who has trouble focusing could easily fit into them.

For Paris and others, this growth in the diagnosis and subsequent medication use is either that doctors are getting better at diagnosing ADD or that we, as a society, are now in what they call psychological fad-where we know we have a medication that works to improve focus so doctors try it in every case they see.

Whether you are ADD or not, stimulant medication will help to improve your focus and pay attention during your everyday life, however just because it works doesn’t mean that you are ADD. Because these medications have such a good record of improving focus, many people who are having trouble with organization, feeling overwhelmed, poor productivity etc. are now choosing to see doctors and get these stimulant medications in order to keep up with their co-workers or families.

For Dr. Paris diagnosing ADD in adults, requires a great deal of study into the adult’s childhood. If the adult remember having characteristics such as inattentiveness, poor organization, inability to focus as a child and still struggle with that today, then there is a basis to look at an ADD diagnosis. If this inability to focus is something that is new or just developed, then according to Dr. Paris, other conditions such as depression or anxiety to explain what you are experiencing.